Could International Tabletop Day be Arlington's New Spring Thing?

International Tabletop Day in Downtown Arlington

Downtown provides an amazing area for all kinds of celebrations and events. There is one event that comes to mind that we don’t celebrate, International Tabletop Day. International Tabletop Day is a day to celebrate the tabletop gaming industry, and it occurs in mid- to late April.

Local comic and game shop Wild West celebrates this annual event. I think we could make this a bigger event by using the Levitt Pavilion as the center of this event. We can have local tabletop celebrities, companies and designers, like Plaid Hat Games, come out and talk with their fans.   

This can also give aspiring designers a chance to get advice from professionals and network for future jobs. The designers could also host workshops on game design and show their up and coming games. This event can draw tabletop players from all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area and bring more attention to the downtown area. This will help downtown grow. This could be similar to the recent event we had with Sony PlayStation’s Road to Greatness event.

The next International Tabletop Day is April 30, 2016, which gives us time to get the ball rolling. This will also be the fourth annual Tabletop Day. This gives Arlington the chance to be the leader in this kind of event. Who knows; maybe this could grow into a larger event in later years similar to a comic book convention. It is all a matter of starting now. Events like this will show the diversity of our area and draw the spotlight to us. I say we take a chance and be the trend setters I know we are.

Chase Williams has worked as a Features reporter for the UT Arlington student newspaper The Shorthorn and as a Digital Strategist and Social Media Director for Chick-fil-A. He has also been an avid gamer his whole life.